POPPING THE K-POP BUBBLE: A STUDY ON THE WORLD OF K-POP FANDOM AS A SUBCULTURE JESSAMINE JOYCE CAUNTE PACIS Submitted to the COLLEGE OF MASS COMMUNICATION University of the Philippines Diliman In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS IN BROADCAST COMMUNICATION April 2012 POPPING THE K-POP BUBBLE: A STUDY ON THE WORLD OF K-POP FANDOM AS A SUBCULTURE by JESSAMINE JOYCE CAUNTE PACIS has been accepted for the degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS IN BROADCAST COMMUNICATION by Assistant Professor Josefina Santos and approved for the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication by Professor Rolando B. Tolentino, PhD Dean, College of Mass Communication BIOGRAPHICAL DATA PERSONAL DATA Name Jessamine Joyce C. Pacis Permanent Address #23 Gen. Evangelista St. Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City Date & Place of Birth 9 February 1992, Manila EDUCATION Secondary Level First Honorable Mention, Jesus Is Lord Colleges Foundation Inc., Bocaue, Bulacan Primary Level Valedictorian, St. Mary’s College of Meycauayan, Meycauayan, Bulacan ORGANIZATIONS Finance and Marketing Committee Head, UP Broadcasters’ Guild Member, UP Arirang WORK EXPERIENCE Intern, Lifestyle Network, August – December 2011 Intern, 702 DZAS, July-November 2011 Intern, DZUP 1602, July-November 2011 ACHIEVEMENTS University scholar: 1st semester, AY 2008- 2009 College scholar: 2nd semester, AY 2008- 2009, 1st semester, AY 2009-2010, 1st and 2nd semester, AY 2010-2011, 1st semester, AY 2011-2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the people who, consciously or unconsciously, contributed to the accomplishment of this research. To my Lord, for the gift of life and salvation. Thank you for the incredible amount of strength and wisdom I needed to finish this work. Truly, You alone can do the impossible. To Mama and Papa, for twenty wonderful years of selfless love and providence. Your presence has always been enough to keep me going. Finally, we have won the war. Thank you for all the food and coffee I consumed during those sleepless nights. To Professor Jo Santos, who knew what this study was all about even before I did. Thank you for believing in me and in my topic from the very start. To Mai, GeeZee, Ezrae, Kars, Nhage, Elaine, and Macky, for allowing me to tell your story. To Ms. Ej Bautista and Ms. Kring Elenzano, for granting me the interviews even in a short notice. To Leslie, Maki, and Irene. Look how far we’ve gone. To Jhayvee, Maze, Blessie, and Wang—the non-existent thesis group. I’m so proud of all of you. To UP Arirang, my first family in UP. Thank you for making me feel that I’ll never be alone. To UP Broadcasters’ Guild, for teaching me to never quit and stick to the fight when I’m hardest hit. To Tatay, for all the comments and insights. To Eana and Agot, for playing with me. You have no idea, but those little moments are what urged me to hold on. To Henry Jenkins, with whom this endeavor began and ended, thank you for inspiring me and empowering all our fellow fans. To Hyunjoong, Hyungjoon, Jungmin, Kyujong, and Youngsaeng, it’s been a while. But I will always believe in you. Thank you for sparking this fire. Finally, to the University of the Philippines, for the honor and excellence. DEDICATION To You Author of my soul May every word Be a song of praise ABSTRACT Pacis, J.C. (2012). Popping the K-pop Bubble: A Study on the World of K-pop Fandom as a Subculture, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication. This study is about the Korean pop (K-pop) music fan culture in the Philippines. It describes how the culture developed, and how the fans interact with one another in the fan community. It elaborates on the nuances of the K-pop fan community and aims to answer the primary research question, How is power exercised and negotiated in the interactive and productive practices of Filipino K-pop fans? Through the methods of document analysis and autoethnography, the interactions and relations among K-pop fans were analyzed using Subcultural Theories by Henry Jenkins, John Fiske, and Sarah Thornton, and Jenkins’ work on participative fan culture. The researcher was able to come up with three primary conclusions: 1.) that the K-pop fan community is a subculture rich with politics and relations of power; 2.) that media play a significant role in the preservation of this subculture; and that 3.) the Korean government is actively involved in the development of K-pop fandom. The study is expected to foster a deeper understanding of local fan culture and how it relates to the discourse of globalization. Its major implications are on how media texts can be tools for the creation of new communities and the development of subcultures. Keywords: fan culture, subculture, K-pop, globalization ABSTRAK Pacis, J.C. (2012). Popping the K-pop Bubble: A Study on the World of K-pop Fandom as a Subculture, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication. Ito ay isang pag-aaral ukol sa kultura ng Korean pop (K-pop) music fans sa Pilipinas. Inilalarawan nito kung papaano umunlad ang naturang kultura at kung papaano nakikisama sa isa’t isa ang mga fan. Pinapabulaanan ng pag-aaral na ito ang mga katangian ng komunidad ng K-pop fans, at naglalayong tumugon sa katanungang: Nasaan o na kanino ang kapangyarihan sa mundo ng mga Pilipinong K-pop fans? Sa pamamagitan ng document analysis at autoethnography, at gamit ang mga teorya nila Henry Jenkins, Sarah Thornton, at John Fiske ukol sa subculture, at mga teorya ni Jenkins ukol sa participative fan culture, sinuri ng pag-aaral ang mga interaksyon at relasyong pumapalibot sa mundo ng K-pop. Humantong ang mananaliksik sa tatlong konklusyon: 1.) na ang komunidad ng K-pop fans ay hitik sa mga relasyong pulitikal at ng kapangyarihan, 2.) na malaki ang papel ng midya sa pagpapanatili ng kulturang ito, at 3.) na may papel rin ang gobyerno ng Koreya sa pagpapaunlad ng komunidad na ito. Ang pag-aaral na ito ay inaasahang magpalalim sa pag-unawa ng fan culture sa Pilipinas, at kung papaano ito nauugnay sa mas malawak na usapin ng globalisasyon. Bilang resulta, magagamit ang pag-aaral na ito sa paggamit ng midya bilang kasangkapan sa pagbuo ng mga komunidad. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Title Page i Approval Sheet ii Biographical Data iii Acknowledgments iv Dedication v Abstract vi Abstrak viii Table of Contents ix List of Figures xi List of Charts xi I. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Background of the Study 2 B. About the Author 4 C. Research Problem and Objectives 5 D. Significance of the Study 7 II. Stories and Histories (A REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE) 9 A. Fan Scholarship 9 B. Subculture Studies 10 C. Musical Practices and Subcultures 12 D. Hallyu: The Korean Wave 13 E. Philippine Fan Cultures 14 x F. The Politics of Fandom 15 III. The Narrative Blueprint (STUDY FRAMEWORK) 17 A. Subculture Framework 17 B. Henry Jenkins’ Participative Fan Culture 19 IV. Behind the Scenes: Penning the Story (METHODS AND PROCEDURES) 22 A. Document Analysis 22 B. Autoethnography 23 V. The Story of K-pop: Rise of a Subculture (DATA ANALYSIS) 27 A. Prologue: An Overview of K-pop Fandom 27 B. Characters: The Fans 30 C. Plot: Media and the Development of K-pop Fandom 43 D. Conflict: The POP (Play of Power) in K-pop 47 E. Setting: K-pop and the Overarching Narrative of Globalization 54 VI. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 60 REFERENCES 63 xi LIST OF FIGURES Number Title Page 1 Example of a post in SJ United Philippines’ Facebook group 33 2 Example of a fan project 37 3 Example of a job posting from the SJ United Philippines Facebook page 49 4 Rules of the SJ United Philippines Facebook group 50 5 Examples of administrator posts in the SJ United Philippines Facebook 51 page 6 Facebook comment on the conflict between Super Junior fan clubs 52 LIST OF CHARTS Number Title Page 1 Development of K-pop fandom in the Philippines 44 2 Development of K-pop fandom in the Philippines in relation to media 46 coverage 3 Role of the KCC in the development of K-pop fandom in the 57 Philippines Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Once upon a time, there was a girl who fell in love. Like all other forms of teenage love, she fell deeply, and she fell hard. But unlike all other forms of teenage love, she fell not for another human being, but for a genre of music. She became a fan. The songs and the artists kept her company and made her feel pleased. But what she gained from her fandom, she was deprived of by her society. She was considered weird. She wasn‟t like the other girls her age. She listened to a different kind of music, dressed differently, and even spoke in a different language. Eventually, she was negatively labeled, a „fangirl‟. The story above is the story of my life. But is also the story of a million other fans who continue to exist in a struggle between empowerment and disempowerment, between independence and adherence to the mainstream. While this may come across as an overgeneralization of fandom, it is a usual experience for fans all over the world to be marginalized and labeled as outcasts. Fandom has long been a subject of interest by scholars of media and culture because of its dynamic character. However, there still remain stereotypes among the general public about fans as ―cultural dupes, social misfits, and mindless consumers‖ (Jenkins, 1992).